Trousers



(No Model.)

A. BIRKLUND.

TROUSERS.

No. 584,318. Patented June 15,1897.

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STATES PATENT FFIQE.

TROUSERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 584,318, dated June 15, 1897. Application filed February '7, 1896. Serial No. 578,417. (No model.)

To aZZ 107L077; it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW BIRKLUND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Sangamon and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Trousers,of which the following is such a full, clear, and exact description as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use my said invention.

The purposes of my invention are to provide trousers so cut and constructed that less time is occupied in their construction than in the construction of trousers as ordinarily made; to provide trousers adapted by their peculiar construction to remain permanently in shape, thereby avoiding sagging and bagging at the knees and the back of the thigh; to provide trousers so constructed as to present seams along the front and back edges of each leg of the trousers; to provide trousers having means adapted to strengthen seams at the knees and the back of the thigh, and to provide trousers so. constructed that the proper form 'is given thereto during the operations of cutting the trousers and sewing the seams, in contradistinction to pressing the trousers into form either during the process of making or after they are cut and sewed.

With these ends in view my invention consists of certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts shown in the annexed drawings, to which reference is hereby made, and hereinafter particularly described and specifically claimed.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the complete trousers. Fig. 2 is a plan of the outside member of the trousers-leg. Fig. 3 is a plan of the inside member of the trousers-leg.

Similar letters of reference designate like parts in all the views.

Each leg of the trousers consists of two members A and B. The edges a and a of the member A and the edges 2) and b of the member B are curved substantially as shown, so that when the members are sewed together along the edges, as hereinafter described, the legs of the trousers may have such shape as will conform to the prevailing fashion or to the taste of the wearer. The upper part of the member Bis out out to fit the person of the wearer, as indicated by the curved line b b b.

To form one leg of the trousers, the edges or and b are united by a seam and the edges (6 and b are similarly united. In the member A is a V-shaped out a, the edges of which are united by a seam to fit the person of the wearer. WVhen the two legs are formed as described, the two members B are united by a seam along the edges Z) of the members. The seams uniting the edges or and b may be plain, stitched, or corded, as preferred.

On the inside of each trousers-leg, at the knee, and extending somewhat above and below the knee and also back of the thigh, a strip of binding D (edge stay) is sewed in with the seams of the trousers-leg along the front and back seams. These stays serve to prevent stretching of the fabric and bagging at the knee or stretching of the fabric at the thighs.

Owing to the peculiar construction of the trousers as described, they may be cut to fit any person and will naturally retain their shape. The fit is made by the cutting and not by the pressing. In trousers as heretofore made proper form has been given to the trousers by pressing. In order to form the trousers by pressing, as now commonly practiced, it is necessary to shrink the goods in some parts and stretch the goods in other parts, the result being that the trousers do not long retain the form given to them by pressing. The form given by the pressing is not permanent and disappears after the trousers have been worn afew times and the goods resume its natural shape.

In trousers as heretofore commonly constructed the movement of the legs of the wearer causes the trousers to stretch at the back of the thigh and at the knee, thus forming bags, which are very objectionable. My improvement obviates this objection.

A practical advantage of my improved form of construction is that the seams are easier to sew than in the usual form of trousers and that the laborious operation of pressing the legs into form is dispensed with.

I am aware of the patent to John Bellamy, dated November 19, 1872, describing and showing a garment in which each leg consists of three pieces, all of which are so united as to form a seam down the front, a seam down the side, and a seam down the back of each leg of the garment, and setting forth a construction involving the sewing of three longitudinal seams in each leg of the garment and the union of three seams in the crotch of the garment. I am also aware of the patent to T. 0. Shaw, dated April 18, 1881, describing and showing a bifurcated garment in which each leg consists of a single piece, the edges of which are joined by a single seam running down the outer side of the leg, the legs being united at the crotch by a single scam. I am also aware that cords have been used to strengthen the seams of garments, as set forth in a patent granted to Lubin, July 4, 1882. I therefore do not claim, broadly, the uniting of the members of the legs of trousers by means of seams extending down the front and the back of the trousers-legs. Neither do I claim, broadly, the uniting of the trousers-legs by a single seam along the crotch. Neither do I claim, broadly, the use of tapes for strengthening the seams; but I restrict my claim to the precise construction herein shown and described, by means of which I am enabled to produce trousers having only one seam at the crotch and only two longitudinal seams in each leg thereof.

I am not aware that trousers have been made prior to my invention consisting of two legs united by a single seam and without cross-seams at the crotch, each of said legs consisting of two members fitted to the person of the wearer in the operation of cutting and without shrinking or stretching the fabric, said members being united by seams along their edges and reinforced at the knee and the thigh by tapes sewed in with the seams which unite the members.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The herein-described trousers in their entirety, consisting of two legs united by a single seam at the crotch, each of said legs consisting of an outer member shaped in the cutting to conform to the person of the wearer, an inner member shaped in the cutting to form a crotch; also shaped in the cutting to conform to the person of the wearer, said members being united by sewing together the curved edges thereof so as to form seams down the front and the back of each trousersleg, and tapes sewed in with the seams at the knee and at the thigh of each trousersleg, as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed, at Springfield, Illinois, this 21st day of January, 1896.

ANDREIV BIRKLUND. lVitnesses:

A. B. McCoNNELL', J. E. VAUGHN. 

